As content items such as video games continue to become increasingly popular and widespread, a number of new and sophisticated techniques have evolved for providing user input for participation with the content items. One such technique involves the use of a virtual gamepad, which refers to software that provides buttons and other input controls on touchscreen devices such as smart phones and tablets. As an example, in some cases, a virtual gamepad may be executed on a touchscreen device that sends inputs to a video game that is displayed on a separate display device such as a television. In this example, a player may, in some cases, be watching the displayed video game on the television while simultaneously holding the touchscreen and attempting to touch controls on the touchscreen without looking at the touchscreen. The player may, for example, continue to look at the television for almost all of a game playing session and may only have time to look down at the virtual gamepad during breaks or pauses in game action, which may occur infrequently.
One problem associated with the use of virtual gamepads is that touchscreens are flat surfaces that may provide minimal, if any, tactile feedback to users. For example, traditional gamepads typically include controls that may be raised and/or lowered with respect to the main surface of the gamepad and may be separated by grooves or other spaces from the main surface of the gamepad. By contrast, touchscreens typically include a continuous flat surface on which buttons and other input controls may, for example, be visually indicated. Thus, users of a virtual gamepads may have difficulty properly selecting intended input controls, for example, when they are not looking at the input controls.